Founded in 1994 in Torun, EIB has expanded its business over the last decades and is nowadays recognised as a multi‑specialist insurance broker adviser to some of Poland's largest companies and financial services groups.
For over 22 years EIB has been insurance adviser to Poland’s largest companies and financial services groups. Founded in 1994 in Torun, EIB initially focused on the energy sector, providing an in‑house broking service to a Polish public energy company. Building upon its success, EIB started to expand its activity, working with other sectors of the Polish economy.
Over two decades later, EIB is recognized as a multi‑specialist, comprehensive insurance broker and adviser with a wide‑ranging client portfolio. The company has developed mainly through organic growth; EIB is one of
Poland’s biggest insurance brokers with expertise in building and developing specialised programmes to protect the financial interests of clients. Over the last three years, EIB has continually been ranked among the top five Polish insurance brokers for income revenue. The firm specializes in providing business insurance and employee benefits services to upper middle market companies and calls itself a ‘one stop shop’, meeting the needs of clients requiring a range of cover including property & casualty and credit & surety insurance, plus employee benefits etc. EIB works in partnership with clients from numerous sectors, operating in Poland and abroad, and gives insurance
advice and support to around 750 firms and financial services groups. Client sectors include; energy, heavy industry, construction, manufacturing, food, plastics, wood, furniture, shoe and textile production, agriculture, leisure and servicing, transportation, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, utilities, local government and financial services.
Within the Polish insurance sector, EIB has a reputation for service excellence and unrivalled knowledge and its brand is synonymous with the provision of a superior quality service. EIB currently protects assets of more than EUR 150 billion and the health and lives of over 100,000 people, making it one of Poland’s largest insurance brokers working closely with the Polish insurers.
The company employs over 150 professionals including 100 licensed brokers and 10 legal counsels – all providing the highest level of service. EIB annually places some EUR 80 million of clients’ premiums into the insurance market, making it an important partner for stakeholders with leverage and buying power to secure the best terms and conditions for customers.
Creative solutions
The diverse and growing needs of clients coupled with a rapidly developing market, inspires EIB to create new solutions and continuously improve its service provision. In a tough market saturated by brokers, and in order to retain its leading clients and win others from rival firms, its focus is on core competencies, specialist areas and the competitive advantages of its superior client service. EIB annually measures client retention rates and is proud to admit that in recent years, it equates to around 97%. EIB is renowned for its expertise within major construction projects, big industrial risks and public tender activities. It successfully designed and placed an insurance programme for the biggest investment project in central‑eastern Europe valued at nearly EUR 3 billion and adjusted the biggest claim in the history of Polish insurance. While this evidences outstanding credentials and experience,
EIB knows it needs to be dynamic and client‑focused in order to grow. It recently moved into trade credit insurance – a fast growing market demanding high levels of expertise in order to secure robust coverage and to be able to adjust claims accordingly. A further portfolio addition is the Pension & Benefit programme protecting 100,000 client employees. To maintain growth, EIB is constantly developing its client services and IT innovation and has what it describes as ‘the most advanced in‑house insurance and claim management system’ directly accessible by clients.
EIB appreciates that Poland’s highly competitive, complex and modern economy means insurance brokers can no longer survive with personal customer contact and commissions generated by simple insurance placement. In order to grow and meet customers’ complex risk management and transfer requirements, brokers need to possess higher levels of expertise. In response, EIB ensures employees not only have the education, skills, knowledge and experience the market requires, but also an in‑depth understanding of; insurance products, the markets they’re working within, the clients´ business model and risk exposure and their protection needs. In order to maintain that competitive edge, EIB continues to invest in employees’ skills and IT solutions while enhancing their market knowledge and legal and technical competences. The company’s strong international presence is facilitated by Brokerslink membership, enabling it to provide unrivalled services wherever clients undertake their business.
EIB recognises clients today expect their brokers to provide the IT tools that allow them to monitor their insurance programmes, activity and progress. In response, the firm employs five programmers, who working alongside their broking colleagues, deliver new IT solutions to meet clients’ expectations.
Brokerslink enables the building of international connections
After many years of being a major player within Poland’s domestic market, EIB took the strategic decision to join Brokerslink. Membership of this global broking company enables EIB to continue to further develop, grow and build relationships with other specialists around the world.
Being part of an international broking company means EIB can respond to the specific needs of Polish companies requiring global support. Its relationship with international brokers in foreign markets and ability to expand its service and solutions portfolio enables EIB to create and successfully implement international programmes for Poland’s leading companies operating in different sectors. The local handling of multinational programmes by Brokerslink partners allows EIB to provide tailor‑made services for even the most demanding clients. In addition, the support of Brokerslink ensures EIB‑brokered solutions meet local law and market requirements; giving the client’s business the cover it needs, reinforced with an effective risk management process. When managing international insurance programmes for multinational companies, EIB can extend its local broker service by liaising with Brokerslink partners to offer a broader range of global solutions that fill any cover gaps in their master policies. International broker cooperation provides a platform to share knowledge and gives EIB access to the world’s best solutions for non‑standard risks cover – something not available to local Polish brokers. Being a member of Brokerslink gives EIB a competitive advantage; it enables the company to gain new experiences and work with insurance brokers around the world, increases its potential for client expansion and strengthens its position among its domestic competitors. EIB’s long association with Brokerslink and its shareholder status has strengthened market awareness and international recognition of EIB as an experienced and reliable partner.
An innovation pioneer
In order to provide customized brokerage services, EIB became an innovation pioneer in the field of computer administration. In response to the growing needs of customers, EIB developed an Insurance Management System (IMS), enabling clients to manage and administer their insurance contracts and claims handling.
The IT platform gives clients unlimited on‑line access to a comprehensive portfolio of insurance and claims documents, enabling them to monitor all activities undertaken by EIB within a client‑broker‑insurer context. This innovative IT solution allows them to view; insurance documents, assigned tasks, training/courses and presentations related to their insurance cover, instructions on what to do in the event of a loss, loss adjusting documents/ correspondence and relevant statistics. In addition, the EIB‑developed system provides full claims management support. The claim notification starts with a simple on‑line form and as the claim progresses, clients can access all claim documentation enabling a real‑time monitoring of EIB activity. The basic principle of the system is to record every piece of claim activity from the of correspondence (in digitised form) to every telephone conversation, etc. This
database access ensures broker and client can monitor the claim’s progress and be alerted to any loss outcomes.
The System shows what premium is paid for each policy and automatically
summarises and notifies clients when upcoming payouts or instalments are due. IMS is not only an effective tool for overseeing and managing the work of EIB and its claims adjusting services, but it also increases the quality of its service provision and streamlines the risk management process for clients.
Meeting client expectations – intermediary or consultant?
In today’s developing economy, Polish companies perceive a brokerage service to be more than an intermediary negotiating the cost and scope of insurance cover. Expectations over the years have changed significantly. A broker should treat every customer as an individual, meeting specific insurance and risk management needs. EIB recognises this and designs and delivers tailor‑made
Programmes and insurance solutions. Nowadays, companies expect their insurance broker to provide a more comprehensive service and act as a consultant and specialist in many related fields.
One such area EIB specialises in is insurance law. Thanks to investment in its advisory business, customers do not have to use additional consulting firms, giving them significant savings. EIB’s professional advisers are experts with many years’ experience of working in insurance‑related sectors. They have unrivalled knowledge about market conditions, including complex cases, and so can help EIB source the appropriate insurance cover and develop solutions suitable for each particular client.
EIB also provides legal counsel support by professionals with detailed knowledge of today’s insurance market – and there’s an investment advisory service to help clients with their asset management and protection in the construction sector. For Construction/Erection All‑Risk (CAR/ EAR) insurance clients, this involves helping them prepare tender documents (including insurance clauses), analyzing contracts to determine risk exposure and responsibilities and supporting financial stakeholder negotiations. Guidance from an experienced specialist can ensure the correct risk management policies and processes are in place. Included within its advisory service provision, EIB monitors Poland’s legislation, including insurance law and the broader civil, economic, tax and other areas. If there’s a change in the law that affects the responsibilities or rights of clients, EIB advises them of their new legal situation, highlighting the associated benefits and threats. With Polish legislation constantly changing, this type of assistance is vital for businesses.
Insurance education
EIB equally recognizes the importance of insurance education and how increasing insurance awareness ensures business continuity, and so offers clients seminars, courses and training sessions. In addition, clients have the support of a risk engineer who can advise on the often complex technical aspects and safety requirements of their particular business activity.
These services are examples of how Polish insurance brokers can enhance their everyday role of; risk analysis and identification, the sourcing and placement of insurance programmes, mediating and managing the purchase of insurance contracts and other activities surrounding insurance provision, claims management and adjusting.
Keeping pace with change
EIB is one of Poland’s leading brokers and aims to strengthen its market position by attracting new customers from differing sectors. One way to secure this competitive advantage is to consistently develop additional services to support the standard broker model. In doing so, it will meet the needs of the most conscientious and demanding client and meet EIB’s goal to provide comprehensive insurance solutions for every client – from the smallest to the most complicated. In order to enhance its global brand awareness, build upon its experience and extend its client base, EIB will continue to expand its international partnerships.
The aggressive competition between brokers in Poland benefits strong firms such as EIB; it increases market consolidation and small to medium broker acquisitions, expanding staff numbers and the customer portfolio. EIB realizes the most important business resource is its people and so will continue to focus on organic growth and create a work environment for employees who want to learn and develop their skills. The broker is also aware that Poland’s economic situation and insurance market is rapidly evolving and only someone who keeps pace with the surrounding changes will be recognized as a trustworthy business partner.
Torun: the hub of Polish brokers
